


Stealing Sunshine

by respoftw



Series: Tumblr Prompts - Hawksilver edition [41]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Happy Ending, Jealousy, Light Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-02
Updated: 2015-07-02
Packaged: 2018-04-07 08:35:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,561
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4256646
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/respoftw/pseuds/respoftw
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The one where Clint is Pietro's sunshine and he really doesn't want Coulson to steal his sunshine away.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Stealing Sunshine

**Author's Note:**

> walkingravens said:  
> If you are still taking promps, a jelous Pietro and a very oblivious Clint

When Pietro finally realised that he had volunteered himself and his sister to work for the wrong side, his first coherent thought was that he should have known. The pretty words and promises made by Strucker and List, the whole ideal of S.H.I.E.L.D, he should have known it was too good to be true. The last part of Pietro's innocence, the part that hadn't been beaten out of him by the Sokovian streets, died that day. His life took a darker turn for a while.

 

Even the darkest of nights finally break for the dawn though. In a lot of ways he thinks his dawn was a cranky old archer in a ridiculous coat with a resting bitch face so severe that all Pietro could think about was making it crack into a smile. But that's just romantic nonsense, something that really should have been knocked out of him a decade ago. A straight man with kids is not the type of person that Pietro should be pinning his sunrises on.

 

So, if asked, Pietro would credit S.H.I.E.L.D, the real S.H.I.E.L.D, for bringing light back into his life. He remembers watching the people of Sokovia being herded into the evacuation ships and thinking that this is what S.H.I.E.L.D was supposed to be. _This_ is what he had meant to sign them up for. Of course, then the cranky old man had to go and selflessly try and rescue a small boy, not caring about the guns that were turning towards him. Pietro hadn't thought twice, skidding into the fray, shielding Clint and the boy, a boy who was so close to the age he and Wanda had been when their world had been turned upside down, content in the knowledge they were safe as the bullets ripped through him.

 

His last thought before the darkness swallowed him whole had been that he was glad to have seen the sun one last time before he died.

 

By 'sun' he, of course, meant S.H.I.E.L.D. In fact, he owed his life to them. ~~Clint~~ An ex-agent had realised that he was still breathing while they laid his body out on the rescue ship and from that moment on he received the very best medical care that S.H.I.E.L.D could offer.

 

~~Clint~~ S.H.I.E.L.D saved his life, ~~Clint~~ S.H.I.E.L.D gave him purpose again. Pietro was really starting to think that S.H.I.E.L.D was everything he had once hoped they would be.

 

And then along came Coulson to ruin it all.

 

He'd met Director Coulson once while he was recovering and hadn't really given him much thought beyond thinking that he seemed nice and down-to-earth. He had shown up again to escort Pietro back to Avengers HQ and that was when all hell broke loose.

 

Pietro had flushed with quiet pleasure as he saw the Welcome Home banner that was waiting for him. He'd heard Wanda refer to the mansion as home but the concept was so new (or old) to him that he hadn't really grasped what it meant until he saw it written in multi-coloured glitter. He prepares himself for the boisterous welcome that his new ~~family~~ team-mates are sure to give him but as they walk into the room the cries of welcome home from Wanda, Vision, Sam and Rhodey are drowned out by the shocked gasps and cries of everybody else.

 

Pietro is confused, a feeling that is not alleviated when Coulson shuffles forward and speaks. “Surprise?”

 

Pietro is pushed to the side while the original members of the Avengers all welcome back someone who was obviously very dear to them. Sam and Rhodey know the story and waste no time in filling the twins in on the apparently miraculous resurrection of the man who brought the Avengers together as a team. Wanda seems thrilled by it all but all Pietro can see is the way Clint had thrown himself into Coulson's embrace, the way he had buried his face in the man's neck and the way he hadn't once even acknowledged Pietro's existence as he stared in wonder at Phil Coulson.

 

Pietro gets very drunk that night.

 

It doesn't end there. Coulson is still there the next day, the Avengers not wanting to let him out of their sights so soon. And Clint just keeps touching him, as if making sure that Coulson is really there and not just a figment of his imagination. Keeps looking at him as if he'll disappear again as soon as Clint looks away. Keeps ignoring Pietro.

 

Pietro gets very drunk again that night.

 

And the next night.

 

And the next.

 

It's been a week and Coulson is still here. Pietro is drunk and trying to ignore the worried looks that Wanda keeps throwing him. She's already cornered him once and told him that if he's not happy here that they could leave. He sometimes wonders what he has ever done to deserve a sister as amazing as her. He'd kissed her forehead and hugged her close, reassuring her that he wants to stay and vowing to stop wallowing in jealousy and pity. His vow had lasted precisely three hours. Until he saw Clint and Coulson playing chess over cups of coffee, _smiling_ at each other. Clint calls him Phil, and each time Pietro hears it he has to stop himself from flinching. After months of hospital visits, months of growing friendship, Pietro has never been anything but 'kid' to Clint.

 

They're all drinking tonight, a welcome back party for Coulson, like he hadn't stolen Pietro's own a week ago. Honestly Pietro doesn't know what the hell the guy is still doing here, wasn't he supposed to be the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D? He can't be that good at the job if they've managed to function without his help for an entire week.

 

The room is suddenly too quiet and he has a horrible feeling that he had said all that out loud. A glance around the room confirms it and Pietro feels like he's been punched in the gut when he sees the righteous fury on Clint's face at hearing his beloved Coulson spoken badly of. The confused, hurt look that replaces the fury on Clint's face makes him think he might have said that last bit out loud as well.

 

There's really not much left to do after that but stagger drunkenly out the room and throwing up into the toilet, and sobbing brokenly as Wanda shushes him and puts him to bed.

 

Except it's not Wanda that's watching over him the next morning.

 

“Why do you hate Phil so much?”

 

Pietro groans in pain as he opens his eyes to Clint's question. He is far too sober to have this conversation, the way he's feeling just now he won't be able to guard against laying his feelings out on the line. “He took my sun away.” See, there. That's exactly the sort of foolish, romantic, inane sentence that he had wanted to avoid.

 

Clint looks confused for a moment before his brow smoothes out and he asks in the smallest voice that Pietro has ever heard him use, “Am I your sun?”

 

A slightly more awake, more guarded Pietro would have scoffed at the apparent big-headedness of him but as it is, he just nods into his pillow, turning his face away as if not being able to see Clint will make the words spilling out his mouth not matter. “I used to think you were straight, you know? That I shouldn't let you be my sun because it would hurt too much when the night came back. But then I saw you with him. And it hurt a thousand times more.”

 

The room is silent for a long time after that and Pietro could almost believe that he dreamt Clint being there in the first place. Until he hears the door swing shut as Clint leaves.

 

He mopes about his room for the rest of the day until hunger forces him out, using his speed to zoom into the kitchen, wanting to minimise the risk of running into someone after the spectacle he's made of himself. The “Welcome Home” banner slows him down. They're all there, even Coulson.

 

He lets himself be hugged and slapped on the back by everyone, still confused as to what's going on. Natasha whispers into his ear as she welcomes him back. “Phil is like a father to him. And you're an idiot.”

 

Coulson doesn't hug him, instead holding out his hand to shake. Pietro starts to offer him an apology but Coulson, Phil, just shakes his head. “Forget about it. I'm leaving in the morning. Oh, and if you hurt him? Natasha will be the least of your problems.”

 

Finally there is only Clint left, the others having retreated to the cake and beer laid out in the kitchen.

 

“I'm sorry.” They both say it at the same time and the amused huffs help make the situation less awkward.

 

“I'm really glad you're back..Pietro.”

 

Pietro smiles for the first time since he walked into the Avengers mansion. “Me too.”


End file.
